


Don't Stand So Close To Me

by danrdarrenc



Category: Days of Our Lives
Genre: M/M, Teacher/Student, sonny's not underage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-11-11
Packaged: 2018-02-25 00:32:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2602022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danrdarrenc/pseuds/danrdarrenc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sonny's excited to start his first day at Salem University, especially Freshman English Lit. When his professor, Will Horton, walks in the door, Sonny is pretty sure Freshman English will be his favorite class.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Stand So Close To Me

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Sonny isn't underage; he took a couple of years off after high school, so he's 20. Will is about ten years older than him.

Sonny bounced enthusiastically into his Freshman English Lit classroom. He wasn’t embarrassed to admit that he had loved his literature classes during his brief attendance of Salem High and he was most excited for the literature courses he would get to take at Salem University.

Early as usual, there were only a couple other students already seated so he stood at the side of the room for a minute, scanning the layout, deciding where he ought to sit. If he sat in the back row, the professor would think he wasn’t interested; if he sat in the first row, he might seem like a teacher’s pet. After a quick deliberation, Sonny slid into a desk right in the middle of the classroom in the second row of desks.

When he was settled in his seat, Sonny opened his bookbag and pulled out a notebook, the pile of books that were assigned for the class, and a pen.  
Intermittently, other students began to file into the classroom; slowly, the desks around Sonny filled up. Eventually, both seats on either side of him were taken, the one on his right by an Hispanic girl, and the one on his left by a tall dark-haired boy with steel gray eyes. 

While they waited for the professor to arrive, Sonny shot furtive glances at the boy out of the side of eyes. He was out and proud and he wouldn’t lie to himself and say that finding a boyfriend wasn’t one of his goals for college.

"What’s that rule?" the guy asked Sonny suddenly. "If the professor is five minutes late we can leave?"

Sonny laughed. “I, uh, I think it’s fifteen minutes.”

"Wishful thinking." The guy flashed Sonny a gorgeous smile and held out his hand. "I’m Brian."

"Sonny," he introduced himself and shook the boy’s hand. He grinned back just as a man walked into the classroom and up to the front of the room.

Sonny turned his attention back to the front of the classroom and took in the state of the professor. He was about Sonny’s height with blonde hair and blue eyes and was wearing a stereotypical tweed jacket with elbow patches over a dress shirt and a pair of jeans. Sonny bit his lip to keep from smiling. 

Sonny also couldn’t help but notice that he was really cute. If he didn’t know before that English Lit would be his favorite subject, he sure did now.

"Hello, English Lit 101. I’m Professor Horton," the professor said, perching himself on the edge of the table that served as the teacher’s desk. "I look forward to teaching you all this semester. I see that some of you have all the books I named on the syllabus, some of you have none of them, at least right now, and some of you have something in the middle. Those of you who have the books out can put them away. We’re not going to need them today."

Sonny slid the pile of novels off his desk and put them back in his backpack as others did the same, including the Latina girl to his right.

After it quieted down again, Professor Horton spoke again. “Great.” He clapped his hands together and hopped off the table. “First, I’m just going to ask you to write down each of your names, what you think your intended major is, and one interesting fact about yourself.” He walked over to the first row of desks filled with students - which happened to be Sonny’s - and held out a pile of index cards. 

Sonny, who was right in the middle of the row, ended up being the one to whom Professor Horton handed the cards. He looked up at Professor Horton as he took the cards; Sonny was startled to find just how piercingly bright blue his eyes were and his smile wasn’t half bad either.

He mentally berated himself as he looked away from the professor, took a card, and handed the pile to Brian. He should definitely not be thinking how stunningly handsome his professor was. 

Sonny pushed away the thought as he bent his head to write down the instructed information. When he was done, he passed the notecard to Brian to be collected.

"Great. Thank you all for the information. I always make it my challenge to learn all of my students names by the end of the first week of classes. So you have your homework and I have mine."

Sonny chuckled along with a couple other people. 

"Now, it doesn’t say this on the syllabus but I want to encourage each of you to take advantage of my office hours; even if you don’t have questions about a book we’re reading or an assignment, feel free to stop by and have a five minute conversation with me about anything, movies, books not for class, something happening in the world. I like to get to know each of my students personally outside of class. I think it makes our collective experience of this class more enjoyable. So," Professor Horton clapped his hands together and grabbed a stack of papers from the table behind him. "Here are syllabuses. We’ll go over them quickly and then I’ll see you on Wednesday for our first real class."

Ten minutes later, Sonny walked out of the classroom with plans to be the first student at Professor Horton’s office hours tomorrow.

______________

The door was slightly ajar when Sonny arrived at Professor’s Horton’s office. He thought he heard typing, so he assumed Professor Horton was inside.

Sonny knocked on the door and then pushed it open just enough so he could stick his head through. “Professor Horton?”

Professor Horton turned towards the door at Sonny’s voice. There was a pair of glasses perched on his nose and he tipped his head down to look over the top of them.

Sonny ignored the momentary thought of how cute he looked doing that. 

"You’re in my English Lit 101 class," Professor Horton said immediately. "Sorry I don’t know you’re name yet." He paused. "But you’re in the front row. I handed you the index cards."

"Yeah. That’s me," Sonny said and he hoped his voice didn’t sound as breathless as he thought it did. 

Will flashed him another one of his dazzling smiles. “Come in and take a seat. I’m glad you’ve taken me up on my office hours request.”

Sonny laughed nervously. Professor Horton was even cuter in a casual setting, with his hair rumpled a little - probably from running his fingers through it while he was writing - and the sleeves of his button-down shirt rolled up to his elbows.

"So. Tell me your name. I’ll be sure to remember it since you were the first one to come visit me." He took his glasses off and placed them on his desk.

Piercing blue eyes twinkled at him kindly and Sonny felt himself blush. “I’m, uh. I’m Sonny. Kiriakis. Sonny Kiriakis.”

"Well, nice to meet you, Sonny Kiriakis." Will smiled again. Sonny’s heart fluttered unwelcomingly. "Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself? Wait a minute. Kiriakis. Are you related to Victor Kiriakis?"

"He’s, uh, my -" Sonny squinted in thought. "Great-uncle? My parents are Adrienne and Justin. Are you from Salem?"

"I’m Sami and Lucas’s son." 

Sonny’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh! Will Horton! I totally didn’t make the connection.” Sonny laughed.

"So. Now that we’ve established we’re both from here. Tell me more about you."

"English is my favorite subject," Sonny blurted out. "I’m not saying that to suck up! It’s always been my favorite subject. Since I was little. I love to read."

"Good. That’s good. What’s your favorite book?"

“Picture of Dorian Gray,” Sonny said immediately.

"Nice," Will gave him an approving smile. "That’s one of my favorites, too. What else?"

"Oh, um." He was having trouble thinking with Professor Horton - Will - looking and smiling at him like that.

"Sorry. I don’t mean to sound like I’m interrogating you. I’m just curious."

"Let’s see. I’m older than most freshmen because I took a couple years off after high school to travel around Europe. I got homesick over the summer and decided to come back to Salem and come to school. I’ve got it in my head that it might be nice to open a little coffee shop, you know, not Starbucks or anything, but a small Mom-and-Pop kind of thing." Sonny paused to think. "Also, I’d like to get married and have a family someday but I’m not sure how well that’s gonna work out."

Will looked at him curiously. “Why don’t you think that won’t work out? A good-looking guy like yourself, you must have the girls falling all over you?”

"Uh," Sonny ran his hand across his face, debating about whether to tell or not, even as his heart fluttered at Will’s words. 

"I - um - i’m gay. I’m out and I’m proud but there aren’t too many others around Salem. It’s part of why I wanted to go to Europe."

"There are more here than there were when I was first starting college. There’s an LGBT+ club and everything. I’m kind of jealous, actually," Will responded without pretense or shame.

Sonny’s brain went blank. Why did the hot gay guy have to be his professor and therefore unattainable? “Oh.”

They were silent for a couple minutes, just staring at each other, until Will said, “I would love to talk more with you but I have a class in five minutes and I should get going.”

"Yeah. Of course," Sonny said, his mind coming back to itself. "I’ll go."

"Please come back. I’ve really enjoyed this." He held out his hand.

Sonny looked at Will’s outstretched hand for a second and then shook it. He couldn’t control the butterflies that fluttered in his stomach when their palms touched.

"I’ll see you in class, Professor," Sonny said and hurried out the door.

__________________

English Lit 101 quickly became Sonny’s favorite class, just as he knew it would. He always hopped excitedly out of bed on the mornings he had it and looked forward to the next day on the days that he didn’t.

Even as his crush on Professor Horton persisted the more classes they had, Sonny did his best to just enjoy the class for the books they read and the discussions they had; he didn’t even mind writing a ten page paper three weeks into the semester.

"I know that writing ten pages might seem like a daunting task to some of you, especially so soon into your college careers," Professor Horton said, handing Sonny a piece of paper. "So I’m passing around a list of times when I will be free this week to have meetings with each of you. Sign up for what’s convenient and I’ll see you either in my office or in class, whichever’s first."

Sonny quickly scanned the list of times, chose one tomorrow morning, and handed the paper to Brian. 

As their fingers brushed, Brian asked, “Hey, Sonny. You wanna get coffee or something? We have that Bio project we have to start working on and I thought we could talk about it.”

Sonny blinked rapidly as he stuffed his books into his backpack. “Uh, sure. Yeah. See you at Java in ten minutes?” 

He smiled insincerely at Brian as he walked past him.

In his state of confusion about whether or not he’d just agreed to a date with Brian, when he passed by Will on his way out the door, Sonny thought for a moment that Will’s eyes were a darker blue than normal and his brows were furrowed in a scowl.

_____________

"Professor Horton?" Sonny knocked on the door and poked his head into the office. 

"Sonny, come in," Will said, closing the book he was reading. 

Sonny closed the door and slid into the chair across from Will. 

"How’s your semester going?" Will asked with a kind smile.

"It’s getting busy," Sonny admitted. "It’s a little weird being back in school after backpacking across Europe for two years."

"Yes. I can imagine. Readjusting to a structured life can be a bit overwhelming I imagine."

Sonny nodded. “I like my classes though. Especially yours.” Sonny blushed under the stare that Will gave him. “You know, because English is my favorite subject,” he clarified.

"Yes, of course," Will responded. 

Sonny thought his voice sounded a bit taut and furrowed his brows slightly.

"Tell me about your thoughts on your Gatsby paper,” Will said after a beat, leaned back in his chair, and crossed his arms over his chest. 

The late September sunshine illuminated Will’s face through the window.

Sonny stopped breathing for a second or two at how beautiful Will looked like that but then shook the thought away.

"I - um - I think I want to discuss the homoerotic undertones between Gatsby and Nick Carraway? I don’t know if that’s kind of cliché coming from me and overdone but it’s something I’ve always been interested in and never really had a chance to explore."

"No. No. There have always been discussions about it in my classes but I have yet to see a student actually write about it. Everything you say in class is pretty much on point. You’ve got a real eye for analyzing novels. I look forward to reading this paper and the ones later on in the semester."

Sonny’s heart beat sped up against his chest as he preened under Will’s praise. “Thanks.”

"Well, unless you have any other questions for me, I’ll see you in class tomorrow. I wouldn’t want to keep you from any friends or boyfriends or anything."

"Right." Sonny hefted his bag over his shoulder and turned to leave. His mind was working a mile a minute wondering if Will was fishing for details. Had he not imagined that Will had scowled yesterday when he heard him make a coffee date with Brian? 

When he was at the door, with his back to Will, Sonny said, “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

Hoping he hadn’t misread the implication in Will’s statement, Sonny left.

_____________

The weeks following Sonny’s statement that he didn’t have a boyfriend were torture for Will. It was so very bad that he had feelings for his student, but at least he could tell himself that nothing would come of it if Sonny had a boyfriend.

But those five words changed everything. His stupid heart and his stupid subconscious kept intruding on his sense: with Sonny single, there was hope and with hope he could not stop himself from indulging in the fantasies of being in a relationship with this boy who had so thoroughly turned his life upside down.

In class, it was easier to control himself; they were surrounded by twenty-five other people and their discussions remained strictly educational. But when they were in his office, just the two of them, it was so much more difficult and he often found himself having to refrain from just leaning over the desk and kissing Sonny senseless.

Although Sonny usually came to office hours under the pretense of talking about his essays or something from class, they almost always ended up in personal conversations.

By the time Halloween rolled around, Will practically knew Sonny’s whole life story and Sonny had a good sense of Will’s:

Will knew that Sonny was the youngest of four boys, his eldest brother being his half-brother and that the twins in between them were adopted.

Sonny knew that Will had three younger siblings, two sisters and a brother, and that Will’s twin brother and sister have two different fathers.

Will learned that during his travels Sonny climbed K-2 and Sonny laughed at him when Will told him he didn’t even like being as tall as he was because he was too far off the ground.

Sonny told him that he had grown up in Dubai save for a short period of time when the family had been in Salem during his freshman year of high school, that it was difficult to be gay there, that he couldn’t really be free to be who he was until he was on the European continent. 

Will explained that he had had it rough growing up too, coming from a broken family, with his parents each going back and forth between each other and other partners, and he had even let it slip that he didn’t believe in love or relationships very much.

Looking back on it, Will thought that that particular statement had been a defense mechanism to protect himself against his ever increasingly strong attraction to Sonny and the fleeting idea that Sonny returned his feelings.

* * * * * * * * * *

In the weeks following his confession to Will that he didn’t have a boyfriend, Sonny nearly drove himself crazy looking for even the smallest sign that Will was as into him as he was into Will. 

He knew he should make an attempt to move on, take Brian up on one of his many leering offers for dinner and a movie, but he could’t do it; the torch that burned in his chest for Will was too bright and too strong for him to resist. 

So he resigned himself to playing the dutiful student. He took as many chances as he could to say something impressive in class and get a rewarding smile and word of praise from Will and he went as often to Will’s office hours as could be considered decently necessary. 

Although those sessions usually started out as talking about things they’d discussed in class or about the papers Sonny was writing, they almost always evolved into personal conversations during which they learned about each other.

They shared stories about their childhoods, their likes and dislikes, interests that they had in common and those that they didn’t, how many relationships they each had had and which ones had been serious; once they even spent nearly an hour debating the merits of reality television versus scripted television.

By the time November rolled around, Sonny was hopelessly in love with Will. 

_________________

"Have you put any thought into what you’re going to write your final paper on? I know no one likes to think about finals until after Thanksgiving but I was just curious," Will said, fixing him with a stare that would have made Sonny’s knees go weak if he hadn’t been sitting down.

"I don’t have, like, a full idea or anything but I was toying with doing some kind of comparison between the decadence and flamboyance of The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Great Gatsby,” Sonny answered.

"That sounds great," Will praised just as a breeze blew through the open window and caused a pile of essays to fly off Will’s desk. "Dammit!" 

Sonny hurried to shut the window. “Why do you even have the window open? It’s the middle of November!” 

"I don’t get cold easily and I like to take in the fresh air for as long as possible," Will said, squatting down to pick up the papers.

"I know what you mean. I love the Fall," Sonny replied, kneeling on the floor to help. 

They both reached for the same essay and Will’s hand ended up on top of Sonny’s. Will’s whole body stilled and Sonny breathed in sharply, his heart suddenly beating five times too fast against his chest.

They simultaneously lifted their heads to look at each other and their faces were only inches apart. Their hands were still touching. 

Will was breathing heavily in short little bursts while Sonny barely breathed at all. Slowly, they leaned forward together; their lips were about to touch when Will turned his face away.

"I can’t," he whispered.

The spell was broken. Sonny pulled his hand out from under Will’s, quickly picked up a bunch of essays, pushed himself off the ground, and put the papers on Will’s desk. Then he grabbed his bag and went to leave without saying a word.

His fingers were closed around the doorknob when Will said, “Sonny, wait,” and then there was a hand on his elbow spinning him around, pinning his back against the door.

"It’s fine," Sonny said without pretense. "I’d hoped you might but I didn’t really expect you to return my feelings anyway."

"Oh god," Will muttered and suddenly pressed their foreheads together and slid his hands into Sonny’s. "I do. I think about you all the time. You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now. I just - I can’t. Not while you’re still my student."

"Oh," Sonny whispered and then Will was gone, standing a foot away from him. 

"God, Sonny. Every time there’s a knock on my door I hope it’s you and every time it’s not you I’m disappointed. And when you are here? It’s so difficult for me. So hard to sit here and be close to you, and not kiss you."

"You stole that from F. Scott Fitzgerald," Sonny said with a tiny smile. 

"Yes. But that doesn’t make it any less true." Will closed the gap between them again and braced Sonny’s cheeks with his hands.

Sonny closed his eyes and relished the feel of Will’s hands on his face. It would be so easy to move his face just a little and press his lips to Will’s.

With his eyes still closed, Sonny said, “I should go or I’m going to kiss you.”

Will pulled away. “Yeah. Yeah. That’s probably a good idea.”

When Sonny opened his eyes, he saw Will standing limply in front of him, his eyes blown wide and his mouth parted slightly. 

"I’ll, um, I’ll see you in class," Sonny said, hitched his bag onto his shoulder, and left the office with a flourish.

________________

The class after they’d admitted their feelings to each other was the hardest class Will had ever had to teach. Sonny being in the first row of students caused his stomach to flutter wildly and made him feel like he was sixteen again, walking on eggshells around his first crush.

Sonny was still as engaged in their discussions - if not more so - and every time Sonny said something Will couldn’t help but let his eyes wander to stare at Sonny’s lips. He wanted so badly to know how they felt slotted against his own. 

He hoped for everyone’s sake that none of the other students noticed the heart eyes he knew him and Sonny were constantly making at each other.

He also hoped that no one noticed the way their fingers lingered on each other when Will handed Sonny a pile of papers containing example topics for the students’ final papers.

* * * * * * * * * 

After telling Will how he felt and knowing that Will felt the same way about him, going to English Lit 101 was both the easiest and hardest thing for Sonny to do.

He was glad for the excuse to be around Will but it also meant that he had to be extra careful to hide his feelings; it was so second-nature for him to openly flirt with someone he was attracted to and who was attracted to him that he had to consciously make an effort to maintain his composure. 

As Sonny took the pile of papers that Will handed to him, Sonny was sure that Brian picked up on the way their fingers lingered on each other just a little longer than was normal.

There was a scowl on Brian’s face when Sonny passed him the stack of topics list and Sonny left the classroom in a state of paranoia. 

________________

As it turned out, Sonny was right to be paranoid. 

The first week of December saw Sonny called into the Salem University President’s office. Will was already inside when he got there.

"Mr. Kiriakis, please sit down," President Green said, motioning to the empty chair across from his desk and next to the one in which Will sat.

Sonny obeyed.

"I’m just going to cut to the chase. I assume you two know why you’re here?"

"No, Adam, I’m afraid I don’t," Will said. His voice was as calm as ever. 

"No, President Green, I’m sorry," Sonny said, following Will’s lead.

"Well. That’s unfortunate," President Green responded and leaned forward to lean his elbows on his desk. "There’s been a complaint lodged by a student who seems to think the two of you are engaging in inappropriate relations with each other."

Sonny only barely refrained from swearing aloud. He knew Brian had seen their hands brush; the jealous bastard had reported them. 

"Adam, are you going to take this seriously?" Will asked and Sonny wondered if Will had ever considered acting professionally for how calm and collected he seemed.

"I have to, Will. You’re a highly respected professor at this school who the students all love. But I can’t just let a report like this pass without checking out its validity."

"Well, there’s nothing going on between me and Professor Horton, President Green," Sonny explained in what he hoped was a steady voice.

"We have a strictly student-teacher relationship, Adam. Nothing more," Will added. 

President Green was silent for a minute as his eyes darted back and forth between them, assessing the truth of their statements.

Finally he said, “Alright. I have no reason to believe you are lying to me so I’m going to let you both off. But if there is more going on here, I must remind you that relations between a professor and his student is strictly forbidden.”

Will and Sonny both nodded their assent of the statement.

"You may go," President Green dismissed.

They left the office in silence and with a decent amount of space between them. They didn’t speak until they were in the little park off the side of Horton Town Square where they were less likely to be overheard.

"It was Brian," Sonny said immediately.

"You’re sure?" Will asked, stepping slightly closer in the cold December air.

"Do you remember a couple weeks ago when you handed out that list of suggested topics and our fingers brushed?"

Will nodded and the corners of his mouth turned up in a little smile.

"When I handed him the pile he had a scowl on his face. He must have seen. And he’s jealous that I’ve been turning him down for a date all semester. So he went to the President."

"Dammit," Will muttered. "It’s a good thing there’s only a couple weeks left of the semester. I can’t do this much longer." He took another couple of steps towards Sonny.

"I know," Sonny agreed softly. He checked that they couldn’t be seen and then cupped the side of Will’s face with his hand. "It’s getting unbearable. But soon."

Will nodded and pulled away. “I think, um. I think you should stop coming to office hours. You don’t need the help and it’ll calm the suspicion.”

"Yeah. Okay. That’s smart," Sonny agreed even as his heart dropped into his stomach in disappointment. "And maybe you could hand things out to other students instead of always giving them to me to pass around?" 

"Right. Yeah. I’ll do that." Will smiled but Sonny could see it wasn’t genuine. 

"I should go," Sonny said. "I have a class in twenty minutes."

"Soon," Will said. 

Sonny’s mouth turned up in a tiny smile before he said, “See you in class tomorrow, Professor.” Then he was through the gate and out of sight.

________________

A week into Winter Break, Will was sitting in his office working on his book when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," he called and didn’t turn away from his computer until he heard the door shut. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Sonny standing with his back against the door.

"I wasn’t sure you’d be here," Sonny said.

"I write best in here. My apartment is too distracting."

"Hmm. I got my grade this morning which means I guess I’m no longer your student. Thanks for the A minus, by the way. Personally, I think I deserved an A but I think I can forgive you," Sonny teased. "On one condition."

"What’s that?" Will’s voice sounded rough coming out of his suddenly very dry mouth.

"You come over here and kiss me."

Will was out of his chair and across the room so fast the corners of the papers on his desk actually flew up. 

Coming to a stop an inch or two in front of Sonny, Will braced his hands on the door on either side of Sonny’s head. They stared at each other for a second and then Will leaned forward and finally finally pressed their lips together in a soft kiss.

Sonny immediately wrapped his arms around Will’s waist, sliding his hands up Will’s back as he deepened the kiss. Will responded enthusiastically, granting Sonny’s tongue access to his mouth, and wrapped his arms around Sonny’s neck, pulling him closer.

Sonny gasped into Will’s mouth, pulled Will through the little space that was left between them so their chests were flush with each other, and slid his right hand up the expanse of Will’s back and into his hair.

After what seemed like hours, Will finally broke apart, his chest heaving in his need for air. Not ready to pull away from Sonny just yet, he rested their foreheads together, his eyes still closed.

"I’ve been wondering what that would be like all semester," Sonny mumbled as he wrapped his arms around Will’s waist in a sort-of hug that kept Will from moving.

"Me too," Will breathed and moved his face away so he could look at Sonny.

"Go out with me?" 

"Is that a good idea?"

"There’s a restaurant on the far side of town called Shenanigans. It’s an old place and no one really goes there anymore. No one should recognize us there.”

"Yeah. Okay. Yeah," Sonny said, his big brown eyes sparkling with delight as he looked back into Will’s bright blue ones.

"Tomorrow night? Eight o’clock?"

Sonny nodded. “I should go. I slipped out of the mansion this morning. They’re probably wondering where I am.”

Will reluctantly let go of Sonny’s neck as Sonny slowly let go of his waist. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Sonny grinned, pressed a quick kiss to Will’s lips, and was gone.

____________

Sonny arrived at Shenanigans promptly at eight o’clock. Will was right; it was on the far side of Salem where no one was likely to recognize them.

His heart fluttering wildly in his chest, Sonny smoothed down the lapel of his blazer before pulling the door open. It was a small and somewhat dark restaurant, with a piano on a little stage against the far wall. There were no more than twenty tables in the middle of the floor and there was a bar against the wall opposite the piano.

There were only a couple tables occupied and Sonny immediately spotted Will sitting at a table in the back corner. With butterflies flapping nervously in stomach, Sonny walked over and took the seat across from Will.

"Hi," Will said with a smile.

"Hi. You look great," Sonny said.

It was true: Will’s hair looked extra blonde in the ambience and his eyes shone a deeper but brighter blue. He was wearing a black blazer over a turquoise colored shirt that accentuated his eyes. 

"So do you," Will said slightly breathlessly.

"I had no idea this place existed," Sonny said. "Guess my plan to open a piano bar here is dead."

Will grinned. “You wanted to open a piano bar?”

"I actually don’t really know. My first idea is for that coffee shop I told you about. But I guess in the future I kind of saw clubs and piano bars too."

"You’re just a regular entrepreneur, aren’t you?" Will’s eyes twinkled with delight.

Sonny blushed at Will’s teasing. “I’ve always loved adventure and I figure that starting my own business would be a great adventure.”

"That’s amazing," Will said fondly. After a beat, he said, "I don’t think I could own or run my own business. I’m too lazy."

Sonny laughed and shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t believe that. You’re a teacher! You have a Ph.D.”

Will was about to answer when the waiter came over. After they ordered two sodas (Sonny wasn’t 21 yet and Will didn’t want to drink without him), a plate of mozzarella sticks to share, and a burger each, Will responded.

"I’m a hard worker but I’m not good with numbers and I don’t think I’d like to do managing and stuff that owning my own business would require. I’m happy teaching. I love it, actually."

* * * * * * * * *

"Did you always want to be a professor at the college level?" Sonny asked, squeezing his lemon into his soda and dumping a packet of sugar into it as soon as the waiter had put it in front of them.

Over the top of his glass, Sonny fixed him with such a genuinely interested stare that Will stopped breathing. 

When he caught his breath, Will replied, “Yes and no. I went into college thinking I was going to be some famous novelist but around my junior year reality hit and I changed course. I’m thirteen years older than my twin siblings so I sort of became their teacher as they grew up. So when I realized I wasn’t really going to be a novelist I decided to go post-grad for English Lit, get my Ph.D.”

"See that’s just as amazing," Sonny said and Will’s heart fluttered. "Can I make a confession?"

"Should I be worried?" Will teased just as their waiter brought out their appetizer.

"No," Sonny laughed. He was stunningly beautiful when his face was split into a grin and he eyes sparkled in amusement. "Part of the reason I travelled around Europe for two years was because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t know if I was ready for college but I didn’t know what else to do. So I did nothing."

"You walked a continent and climbed the second tallest mountain. I wouldn’t exactly call that nothing."

Sonny ducked his head shyly at Will’s words and Will made a mental note to make him do that again; it was incredibly cute but also reminded him of just how young Sonny was. 

"You know, I lived in Switzerland once," Will revealed.

"Really?" Sonny’s eyes widened in surprise.

Will hadn’t mentioned it during the office hours in which they divulged information about themselves and he was glad he hadn’t because the look on Sonny’s face was so rewarding.

"Mmm hmm," Will hummed in assent, as the waiter placed their entrées in front of them. "The summer before I started high school. The twins had just been born and I kind of needed some time away from Salem. So I went to live with my aunt and uncle for a few months."

“We should go back and climb the Alps,” Sonny suggested, the ends of his lips twitching.

“Yeah. Okay. I’ll keep that in mind for my next life,” Will countered, dumping ketchup onto his burger as well as his plate and biting into his cheeseburger.

Sonny’s body shook with laughter as he bit off the ends of the three fries that were in his hands.

“Next time I’m taking you rock climbing,” Sonny said.

Will’s heart fluttered. He really couldn’t stop feeling like he was sixteen around Sonny. “Next time?”

* * * * * * * * *

“Yeah, of course,” Sonny answered, finishing off his burger.

The blush high on Will’s cheeks made him look so young that Sonny almost forgot Will was ten years older than him.

“Ready to go?” Will asked. He picked up the check and then put it back down with the appropriate amount of money.

Sonny pushed his chair out and followed Will out the door of the restaurant.

“I want to walk by the lake with you,” Will admitted, slipping his hand into Sonny’s. “But we probably shouldn’t.”

Sonny’s heart swelled and he intertwined their fingers together. “Not yet. It’s probably frozen anyway. We can go in the spring when it’s warmer.”

“Yeah.” After a beat, Will asked, “Did you drive here?”

“No. I walked. The Kiriakis mansion isn’t that far from here, actually.”

“Good.”

Will stopped walking in the alcove under the stairs of the pier and Sonny turned so that they were looking at each other.

He blinked at Will for a couple of seconds before Will smiled and leaned forward to press their lips together. Sonny smiled into the kiss, let go of Will’s hand, and wrapped his arms around Will’s neck. Will responded by slotting their lips together more firmly and tugging him closer by the lapels of his blazer.

When they broke apart, Will asked, “Come home with me?”

Sonny nodded without hesitation and let Will lead him towards his apartment.

___________________

The next morning, Will awoke to sunlight on his face and his arm draped across Sonny’s waist. His chest was pressed against Sonny’s back and their legs were interlocked under the sheets.

Smiling to himself, Will peppered feather-light kisses to Sonny’s neck and bare shoulders.

“Mmmm,” Sonny hummed, stirring awake and flipping over so that they were facing each other. “Morning.”

“Good morning.” Will smiled softly. “Sleep well?”

Sonny nodded. “I want you to know though that I don’t usually do this.”

“Do what?”

“Put out on the first date.”

Will laughed and nuzzled his nose against Sonny’s.

Sonny closed his eyes and turned the ends of his mouth up into a tiny smile. “It’s only because I love you so much,” Sonny mumbled sleepily.

Will stopped breathing.

* * * * * * * *

Sonny snapped his eyes open as he realized what he’d said.

“I – um – I,” Sonny stuttered nervously but Will silenced him with a kiss.

“I love you, too,” Will said when they pulled apart. His eyes twinkled in the early morning sunshine and Sonny thought he had never looked more beautiful.

Sonny’s heart swelled to twice its normal size and he closed the gap between them to capture Will’s lips with his own. He went willingly when Will pulled him closer, pushed Will onto his back, and rolled on top of him.

Will moaned into Sonny’s mouth as Sonny pushed his tongue past Will’s lips and tangled his fingers in Will’s hair.

“I love you,” Sonny mumbled into Will’s mouth and he felt Will smile into the kiss.

Breaking away, Sonny kissed the crook of Will’s neck and then settled his head on Will’s chest. “Let’s not leave this bed for the rest of Winter Break.”

* * * * * * * * *

Will chuckled and wrapped his arms around Sonny’s waist, locking his fingers together on Sonny’s lower back.

“Don’t you think your parents will get worried?”

“Okay. I’m setting ground rules right now,” Sonny said, lifting his head to look at Will. “When we’re in bed no talk about my parents. It reminds me that I still live with them. Deal?”

“Deal.” Will smiled and was rewarded with a little kiss.

After a beat, Sonny asked, “What are we going to do when Break is over? I don’t think I can go back to not kissing you and touching you.”

Will unlocked his fingers so he could cradle the side of Sonny’s face.

“Can I give you my ground rule?” Sonny nodded. “Don’t take any more of my classes. Not that I wouldn’t like the excuse to see you and have you come to my office but we can’t be together if you’re my student. It’s bad enough you’re a Salem U student at all and I’m a professor, but it’s not technically against the school’s policies if you’re not in my classes.”

“Deal. But you have to tell me about the books you’re reading so we can have our own private discussions,” Sonny said, tracing little circles on Will’s chest. “I’m going to be sad to not be able to come visit you in your office. Those conversations we had there are what made me fall in love with you.”

The butterflies that always seemed to be in Will’s stomach when he was around Sonny fluttered wildly. “Me too. Although I might need a TA for this coming semester’s Freshman Lit class. You wouldn’t technically be my student.”

Sonny’s face split into an ear-to-ear grin and he crushed their lips together.

“Are you hungry?” Sonny asked, pulling away. “I think you’ll find that I’m quite an accomplished omelet cook.”

“Is that right?”

Sonny smirked, pecked another kiss to Will’s lips, and hopped out of bed.

______________

They spent the remaining three weeks of Spring Break hiding out in Will’s apartment. It was the safest place for them to not be spotted by anyone who might know them and it was homier and more intimate than the Kiriakis mansion.

Surprisingly, Sonny managed to get caught sneaking back into the mansion in the morning only once over the course of the three weeks.

“Sonny? Were you out all night?” Adrienne asked with his foot on the stairs.

He winced but decided on the truth – or the half-truth.

“Yes.”

“Would you care to explain where you were?”

“I have a boyfriend,” Sonny admitted, turning around to face his mother.

“Honey, that’s great! Do I know him? What’s his name?”

“I’d rather not tell you yet. I don’t want to jinx it.” He hoped she’d buy it.

“Sure. Okay. I can take a hint. I’m so happy for you, baby.” She hugged him and disappeared again into the sitting room.

Sonny breathed a sigh of relief and ran up the stairs two at a time to his room.

* * * * * * * * *

“So she was okay with not knowing my name?” Will asked, running his hand through Sonny’s hair.

Sonny’s head rested on his shoulder and their legs were intertwined on top of Will’s comforter.

“She’s just happy I have a boyfriend. She knows I’ll tell her when I want to. I just can’t believe I had to get caught on the last day of break.” Sonny chuckled at the irony.

“You know that myth about teachers not wanting to go back to school as much as students? Yeah. That’s true,” Will said. “I really don’t want to start school again tomorrow.”

Sonny groaned and buried his face in Will’s shoulder. “It’s gonna be like withdrawal.”

“But you’re going to be my TA so we’ll still get to see each other.”

“Are you sure that won’t be suspicious?” Sonny lifted his head and fixed him with a stare that made Will’s heart flutter.

“If anyone asks, you were one of my top students last semester and you wanted the job and I needed the help.”

“Okay,” Sonny grinned and pressed their lips together softly.

Will smiled against Sonny’s lips. When they broke apart, Will said, “You should probably go home. We’ve practically spent every minute of the three weeks together. We need to get used to being apart again.”

Sonny pouted adorably but nodded. “Yeah.” He untangled their legs and slid off the bed.

After putting his shoes back on and grabbing his jacket, he walked to the door, Will right behind him. When he was at the door, Sonny turned around to face Will. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

Will nodded. “If I look like shit tomorrow it’s because I couldn’t sleep with you next to me.”

Sonny’s eyes sparkled with love and Will nearly dragged him back to bed.

“I love you,” Sonny said. Then he gave Will another quick kiss and left.

_______________

As it turned out, Will and Sonny were both preoccupied with their respective class schedules that they were able to meet only once for coffee during the first week back to school.

“God, I can’t believe I’m already so busy with my classes,” Sonny said when they were nestled together at a corner table in Java.

“In my experience, I’ve found that the first and last weeks of the semester are the busiest for students and professors,” Will responded, twining their fingers together under the table.

They were still wary of showing affection in public; even though it wasn’t technically against the rules with Sonny not being Will’s student anymore, it could still appear improper to some.

“I have a proposition,” Sonny said and Will raised his eyebrows at the implication. “Let’s make a date night. That way no matter how busy our schedules get we know we’ll we see each other at least that once during the week.”

“Friday nights? We’ll have something to look forward to all week and a way to calm us down after the stress of the week,” Will suggested.

“Eight o’clock at your place?”

“Yes. Sounds great.” After a pause, Will said, “I so want to kiss you right now.”

Sonny smiled sadly. “Me too. But I think we’re doing the right thing not doing the PDA thing. People might still question it and I really want to be your TA. It’ll be extra time we can spend together.”

Will squeezed Sonny’s hand under the table and then pulled away. “I have a class in fifteen minutes. I should get back to campus.”

They walked out of Java together and headed back towards Salem U.

“Are you free tomorrow at eleven? I want to introduce you to my students,” Will said.

“Yeah. I’ll be there…Professor,” Sonny said with a smirk.

“Good. So I’ll see you tomorrow?” Will said, stopping in front of the English department building.

“Yes. Eleven o’clock. Goodbye, Professor,” Sonny said, hesitated for a second or two, and then turned around and left.

Five minutes later, when he took his phone out of his pocket to leave it in his office during class, Will had a text from Sonny:

I love you. xxxx

Will smiled, responded Love you too xxx, and left for his classroom.

________________

“How are your meetings with the students going?” Will asked, sliding his arms around Sonny’s waist and hooking his chin over Sonny’s shoulder. “I haven’t really asked them in my sessions.”

They were on Will’s bed, Sonny sitting Indian-style in the middle with his laptop open in front of him.

“Some of them had really good ideas. Others literally just spent the half hour complaining that you gave them a paper to write three weeks into the semester.”

“There are always a few,” Will mumbled.

“What if I’d been one of them?” Sonny teased.

“Well, I probably still would have thought you were exceedingly handsome,” Will answered, kissing Sonny’s neck.

Sonny grinned and leaned back into Will’s chest. He closed his eyes as Will trailed more kisses across his bare shoulder blades and rolled his head to the side to give Will better access to his neck.

“Will, I – I have to get home,” Sonny huffed but Will continued to kiss his neck. “We’re having a – a family meeting.” Will sucked Sonny’s earlobe into his mouth. “Hnnng. Oh god. My – uh – my brother’s visiting for a week.”

“So?” Will breathed into Sonny’s ear and Sonny felt Will’s smirk against his cheek.

“Fuck you,” Sonny growled, turned himself around, and smashed their lips together.

Will laughed into Sonny’s mouth and fell back onto the pillows with Sonny on top of him.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Sonny was in the middle of sucking a hickey into Will’s neck when his phone rang out loud and sharp, cutting through the little noises that Will was making.

“Fuck,” Sonny muttered against Will’s skin.

“Don’t answer it,” Will said, tightening his arms around Sonny’s waist.

Sonny laid his forehead into Will’s shoulder for a second and then lifted his head to look at Will.

“It’s probably my Mom wondering where I am. When Alex told us he was coming she read me the riot act about not hiding away ‘with that secret boyfriend of yours’. Her words, not mine. I really have to go.”

Will groaned. “Fine. I guess I’ll let you leave.”

Sonny stared at Will. “Come with me.”

“What?”

“Come with me. I don’t want you to be my secret boyfriend anymore. Not with my family anyway. I want you to meet them.”

Will was silent for a beat. “Okay.”

Sonny’s face split into a grin and his eyes sparkled. “Yeah?”

Will nodded and smiled back just before Sonny smashed their lips together.

* * * * * * * * *

Will’s stomach fluttered with nerves as they walked hand-in-hand up the pathway to the Kiriakis mansion. He hadn’t felt this nervous about meeting a boyfriend’s family since he was sixteen and meeting the father of his first boyfriend.

“It’ll be fine,” Sonny said, squeezing his hand while he unlocked the door with his other. “They’ll love you.”

“Mom? Dad? Alex?” Sonny called once they were inside and the door was closed.

“We’re in here, Sonny,” a woman responded, though her voice was muffled.

Sonny tugged Will’s hand and led him through the pair of wooden doors that were straight in front of them.

A blonde woman and a brown-haired man were sitting on the couch holding hands. Sonny’s parents, Will figured. A dark-haired young man who looked startlingly like Sonny was sitting in a chair perpendicular to the couch.

“Sonny, is there something you want to tell us?” The woman’s eyes darted back and forth between them.

“Mom, Dad, Alex, I want you to meet my boyfriend, Will.” Sonny squeezed his hand again. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was bringing him. It was a last minute decision but I really wanted you all to meet.”

“Oh, Sonny, of course it’s okay. I’ve been anxious to meet this mysterious man of yours.”

“Will, these are my parents Adrienne and Justin and my oldest brother Alex.”

“It’s nice to meet you all. I’ve heard so much about you,” Will responded to the room at large.

“Well, why don’t you come sit down and tell us about yourself.”

Feeling like he was about to be interrogated, Will nevertheless followed Sonny to the couch and sat down.

“Are you from Salem?” Adrienne asked.

Will looked at Sonny who nodded in encouragement. They were doing this; they might as well tell the complete truth.

“My parents are Sami Brady and Lucas Horton,” Will answered and braced for the backlash.

“You’re Jennifer’s nephew,” Adrienne said.

“Yeah.”

“You’re also about ten years older than my son and a professor at Salem University.”

Will shrunk back at the accusatory look on Adrienne’s face.

“Mom!” Sonny reprimanded. “So what?”

“Did he take advantage of you?”

“How can you even ask me that?” Sonny’s eyes shot daggers at his mother. “Nothing happened until I wasn’t his student anymore. And it was a mutual decision. See this is why I didn’t want to tell you. I knew you’d react this way.” He stood up and pulled Will with him. “Come on, Will. We’re leaving.”

“No! Sonny, wait,” Justin said. “Your mother’s just concerned. But you’re telling her that there’s nothing to be concerned about so she can stop worrying now.”

Will had to bite his lip to keep from smiling at Justin giving his wife the exact same look Sonny had just been giving her. The resemblance between Sonny and his father was uncanny.

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Adrienne conceded. “I would like to get to know you better and this was supposed to be a dinner, after all. I would like it if you both would stay.”

This time, Will squeezed Sonny’s hand and they followed his family into the dining room for dinner.

_________________

After “coming out,” so to speak, to Sonny’s family, it became increasingly difficult to maintain the sense of strict professionalism on campus and around the rest of Salem that they had agreed upon at least until the summer.

Over the course of the next month, they were each routinely late for their respective classes on the days that they worked together in Will’s office on Sonny’s TA matters; the days that Sonny actually attended Will’s Freshman Lit class were nearly unbearable as they were almost more focused on not casually touching each other than the lecture.

To make things worse, Brian was still stalking Sonny, asking him out for coffee or a movie nearly every day and Sonny’s relentless attempts to shake him off and make him understand he had a boyfriend were always met with snide remarks.

Their Friday night dates were a haven for them; they were able to be a couple someplace other than Will’s apartment or the Kiriakis mansion as long as they stuck to the shadows and out-of-the-way locations where they didn’t think anyone would recognize them.

Their plan worked until the middle of March when they did the stupidest thing possible: they went to get ice cream in Horton Town Square after their dinner at Shenanigans.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Sonny asked, hesitating outside the gate of the Square. “What if someone sees us?”

“It’s eleven o’clock in the middle of March,” Will replied gently. “And who eats ice cream in March anyway?” He smirked.

“We do, apparently,” Sonny said and led Will by the hand into the Square and towards the ice cream shop.

After getting their orders, they settled side-by-side into a booth in the corner of the shop. Since there was no one but the workers and them in the store, Sonny laced their fingers together on top of the table; they both had cones so there was no need for two hands.

They sat in silence while they ate, relishing in being a couple in such a public place – until Will gasped and nearly dropped his cone.

Startled, Sonny followed his eye line to the doorway and his heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. President Green was standing just inside the door, staring at them.

“Shit,” Will muttered. He made to pull his hand out of Sonny’s but Sonny tightened his grip even as President Green walked over to them.

“Adam, I can explain,” Will said immediately.

“You better hope you can,” President Green said, his voice inflected delicately.

“We didn’t lie to you in your office, President Green,” Sonny replied before Will could say anything.

If someone had to be punished, it was going to be him; he would not let Will lose his job over this.

“Nothing was going on when Brian reported us. I’ve been TAing for Will this semester and things happened. Please don’t fire Will. I was the one that pushed for us to go out. If you want, you can expel me.”

* * * * * * * * *

“Sonny!” Will was shocked by Sonny’s cover-up but he couldn’t deny he enjoyed watching Sonny be so chivalrous.

“Look, Adam. We’ve been trying to be really careful. We’ve been avoiding being seen in public and we’re extremely cognizant of things on campus. We only do things on the far side of town because we’re not likely to be recognized there. We only came here tonight because it’s the middle of March and almost midnight. We didn’t expect you to show up.”

“My son is sick. He wanted ice cream.” President Green sighed and sat down opposite them. “As long as Sonny is not your student, Will, it isn’t technically against the rules of the school. But I think you already know that. I also think you know that it could still appear improper, which is why you’ve been trying to hide this for weeks.”

Will and Sonny both remained silent.

“Neither of you is getting fired or expelled as of yet but if there are complaints that go above my head and the Board of Directors pushes me, I might be forced to do one or both.”

“We understand. Thank you, Adam,” Will responded as relief flooded his chest.

“I’d say to keep being cognizant of things on campus but you don’t have to maintain such strict secrecy, especially in the rest of town. I want you to be yourselves. Just watch who’s around when you are.”

“We will, President Green. Thank you again,” Sonny said and squeezed Will’s hand as President Green went to the counter for his ice cream.

The rest of their ice creams having melted during the conversation with President Green, they slid out of their booth and left the ice cream parlor.

When they were in the middle of the Square, Will stopped abruptly near the white couch and stone wall that blazed with fire.

“What?” Sonny looked at him, his big brown eyes wide with curiosity.

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while,” Will said.

Sonny raised his eyebrows at him.

Will smiled, took Sonny’s face in his hands, and kissed him full on the mouth, the shining stars and moon illuminating them through the transparent roof of Horton Town Square.

______________

The following week passed in a blissful blur even as news spread around campus and Salem that Will Horton and Sonny Kiriakis were dating.

Taking advantage of their newfound freedom, every morning Will and Sonny walked through Horton Town Square holding hands, picked up breakfast and coffee at Java, and made their way to Salem University together.

On the couple of days that Sonny didn’t accompany Will to his office for TA duties, Will dropped Sonny off at whatever classroom he was going to and left him with a quick kiss goodbye.

It wasn’t until Brian cornered Sonny in Java in the beginning of April that their no-one-cares-we’re-dating bubble burst.

“So that secret boyfriend of yours was Professor Horton?” Brian appeared next to Sonny as he dumped sugar into his coffee.

“Yeah,” Sonny huffed. He really wasn’t in the mood to deal with Brian’s jealousy and he wanted to escape as painlessly as possible.

“Isn’t that against school rules? A student dating a professor?”

Sonny cringed internally. “I’m not Will’s student anymore so no.”

“But you were together when you were his student so it is,” Brian insisted.

“We weren’t together last semester. Nothing happened until Winter Break,” Sonny said shortly. “President Green knows so, if you’re thinking of telling him, don’t.”

Sonny gave him a disgusted look and brushed past him.

“Ah, but if I say, complain to the Board of Directors, President Green wouldn’t have a say.”

Brian smirked at him and Sonny’s heart turned over.

“Are you really that bitter and jealous that I wouldn’t go out with you that you’d get Will fired?”

“I just don’t think he’s right for you,” Brian said arrogantly, crossing his arms across his chest. “I mean, what a thirty plus year old man is so desperate to have a boyfriend that he has to take advantage of his student?”

“That is not how it happened and you know it,” Sonny hissed, barely managing to keep his hands from shaking.

“Fine. Have dinner with me Friday night and I won’t go to the Board.”

Sonny’s mouth dropped open in horror. “You’re seriously going to blackmail me? Is that really how you want to get me on a date with you?”

After a beat of silence, Sonny said, “Or is that the only way you know how to get me to go on a date with you?”

“Meet me at the Brady Pub Friday night at 8 or your boyfriend gets sacked.”

Then he pushed his way past Sonny who was seething in anger.

_____________

“I can’t go on our date tomorrow,” Sonny told Will who was sitting at his desk typing.

“Oh. Really? Why not?” Will twisted his body around to look at Sonny who was lounging on Will’s bed with a book open in front of him.

“My dad asked me to take the daughter of one of his client’s out. It’s a big account and the guy apparently needs his daughter’s approval.”

Will thought it was suspicious but said, “Okay. Just as long you don’t turn straight on me.”

Sonny laughed and Will could swear that he sounded nervous.

“I have some grading to catch up on anyway. Rain check on Saturday?”

“Sure,” Sonny answered quietly.

The next morning, Will woke with a distinct lack of excitement for the day. He hadn’t realized just how much he looked forward to their dates.

Still, today was one of the days Sonny was going to be in class participating in the discussion and helping the students start to think about final paper topics.

But when he got to his office, Sonny wasn’t waiting for him like he usually did. Thinking maybe he was just running late, Will waited until five minutes before class before understanding that Sonny wasn’t coming to his office first.

Confused, disappointed, and slightly worried, Will made his way to the classroom where Sonny was already seated in his chair off to the side by Will’s desk.

Will frowned when Sonny merely gave him a tiny smile in greeting but he made himself focus on the class.

It had been his plan to talk to Sonny after the students left but Sonny was gone as soon as Will dismissed everyone.

Hurt and baffled by Sonny’s avoidance of him, Will pulled out his phone and sent him a text:

Did I do something wrong yesterday? You didn’t stay the night and you’ve been avoiding me today.

Five minutes later, his phone buzzed with an answer:

Just a bit stressed. I’ll see you tomorrow. xx

At least he had put kisses at the end of the message. That was comforting.

Shaking off the uneasy feeling he had that he’d done something to offend Sonny, Will occupied himself with the rest of his classes and reading over essays he had abandoned over the weeks in favor of more entertaining activities with Sonny.

His stomach rumbled at around eight o’clock and he realized he hadn’t eaten since his muffin at noon.

Stretching his neck out, Will grabbed his keys from the table by the door and headed to the Brady Pub for a burger and fries.

What he saw when he walked through the door of the Pub stopped him dead in his tracks: Sonny was sitting at a table near the back with a dark-haired man Will recognized as Brian.

He was just about to walk over to confront them when Sonny looked up and saw him standing staring at them.

* * * * * * * * *

Sonny’s faced drained of color when he saw Will standing in the doorway.

“Shit,” Sonny swore.

“What?” Brian asked and craned his neck around to look where Sonny’s attention was focused. “Oh look. It’s Professor Loverboy.”

Sonny glared daggers at Brian as Will turned on his heels and left the Pub.

“This date is over, Brian. If you want to go to the Board, fine. Otherwise, go to Hell.”

Sonny grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and jogged after Will.

Not seeing Will in the lane outside, Sonny turned and hurried into Horton Town Square. As soon as he passed under the archway, he spotted Will’s blonde head on the other end of the plaza.

“Will!” Sonny shouted, not caring that the stragglers that were around looked at him. “Will! Wait!”

He ran across the Square, swiveling his way through other people who jumped out of his path in alarm.

Just as he feared that Will hadn’t heard him or had chosen to dodge him, Sonny passed through the gate and into the little alcove on the edge of the Square and found Will pacing back and forth in front of the bench.

“Will,” Sonny huffed, out of breath.

“That’s why you cancelled our date? So you could go out with Brian?!”

Will turned to face him and he shrunk back at the furious look on Will’s face.

“Yes,” Sonny answered immediately. There would be no more lying now. “But it’s not what you think.”

“How long Sonny? How long have you been seeing him behind my back?”

“What?! I haven’t been seeing him or anyone behind your back.”

Will stared at him with his jaw clenched tightly.

“Can you just let me explain?”

“Fine,” Will spit.

“He blackmailed me into going out with him. He cornered me in Java a couple days ago and said unless I went out with him tonight he’d go to the Board and get you fired. I wasn’t going to let him do that to you, so –“

* * * * * * * * *

“So you chose to cheat on me instead?”

“I didn’t no – I’d never cheat on you,” Sonny stuttered and at that moment he looked so small and hurt that Will remembered he was all of twenty years old. “I was doing this for you. I don’t even like Brian. I wouldn’t go on a date with him even if I was single.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me instead of making up that story about your dad needing you?”

Sonny was quiet for a beat. “I don’t know.”

They stared at each other for a minute and Will debated whether he should forgive Sonny so easily. In the end, Will closed the gap between them and slipped his hands into Sonny’s.

“I appreciate you trying to be so chivalrous but you should have told me. We are partners and we’re supposed to deal with stuff like this together. We could have gone to Adam or the Board and headed them off, told them he’s just jealous. I don’t know if it would have worked and I still could have gotten fired but we could have tried.”

“We might still need to,” Sonny said and Will blinked at him confusedly. “I told him to go to Hell when I left the Pub.”

Will laughed. The fist around his heart had loosened and he was dizzy with relief.

“I’m really sorry, Will.”

“It’s okay. Just don’t do it again.”

Sonny nodded and looked at him sheepishly.

“I love you,” Sonny said somewhat timidly.

“I love you, too,” Will replied, stroking Sonny’s cheek with his thumb and pressing their lips together in a soft kiss.

________________

The rest of April passed uneventfully, Brian having not gone to the Board of Directors and having gotten the message to stop sniffing around Sonny.

No one else showed up with objections to Will and Sonny showing public displays of affection wherever they were, including campus, and both now felt comfortable doing so.

After their Friday night date in the first week of May, they where strolling through Horton Town Square hand-in-hand when Sonny suddenly veered them towards the park.

“What are you doing?” Will asked, though he followed willingly.

“You’ll see.” Sonny’s eyes were a deeper yet brighter brown than usual in the fading twilight.

Five minutes later, Sonny’s intention became clear. “I believe I owe you a moonlight walk by the lake.”

Will grinned and shifted closer to Sonny so that their shoulders brushed when they walked.

After a few minutes of peaceful silence, Will said, “At the risk of sounding cheesy or cliché, you make me feel like I’m sixteen again.”

* * * * * * * * * *

Sonny stopped walking but stepped in front of Will so they were facing each other.

His heart fluttered at the soft, earnest expression on Will’s face. Illuminated by the moonlight, he looked the most beautiful Sonny had ever seen him.

“I know I’m young but I’ve had a few boyfriends and I have never loved anybody the way that I love you. You are everything to me, Will.”

Will cupped his cheek with the hand that was interlaced with Sonny’s and said, “You’re the love of my life, Sonny. I can barely remember what my life was like before I met you and I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life without you by my side.”

Sonny’s heart fluttered in unison with the butterflies in his stomach at Will’s words. Then he slid his hand out of Will’s, wrapped his arms around Will’s neck, and pulled Will into a searing kiss.

_______________________

_Three years later_

Sonny pushed his way through the crowd of his fellow graduates, searching for his family.

Will, having had to be on stage for the ceremony with the other professors, had told him before hand that he’d meet up with them at the Kiriakis mansion for Sonny’s graduation party.

“Sonny!” Adrienne called and Sonny made a beeline for where she was standing waving at him, his father and Uncle Vic beside her.

“Oh, honey, we’re so proud of you,” she said as soon he came to a stop in front of her. Then she wrapped him a tight embrace and kissed his cheek.

“Thanks, Mom,” Sonny said, slightly embarrassed.

When he managed to gently extricate himself from his mother’s arms, Sonny quickly hugged his dad and then Victor before saying, “We should go. The others will be waiting.”

“Yes. Sonny’s right. We should get back to the house,” Victor said and turned around towards the exit.

Will was standing outside the front door of the mansion when Sonny, his parents, and Victor arrived ten minutes later.

“Hey,” Sonny said with a smile.

“Hi.” Will kissed his cheek and slipped his hand into Sonny’s before entering the house.

Sonny laced their fingers together as they followed his parents out to the back garden where the party was taking place. Jennifer, Abigail, JJ, Brady, Maggie, Melanie, Daniel, Kayla, Hope, Ciara, and Aiden Jennings were all spread out across the grounds, talking in little groups together.

When Sonny appeared, silence fell and then they all erupted in a unified yell of congratulations.

Although he was feeling a bit overwhelmed, Sonny gently pulled away from Will so he could receive hugs and kisses from his guests.

After enduring ten minutes of his family, Sonny managed to escape to the table laid out with food. He was starving.

He was just about to load his plate with a hotdog and side salads when Will slithered up behind him and whispered in his ear.

“Can I steal you for a minute?”

Sonny smiled, put down the plate he was holding, and followed Will into the house.

When they were back in the main sitting room, Will pulled Sonny to him by the front of his shirt and smashed their lips together. Sonny responded enthusiastically and tangled his fingers in Will’s hair.

Breaking away for air after a minute, Will slid his arms around Sonny’s waist and said, “I didn’t get a chance before to say how proud I am of you.”

Sonny blushed. “Thanks. You looked so important up there on the stage with all the other professors and President Green.”

Will’s lips twitched up into a tiny smile. “I’ll be honest. There was another reason I wanted to get you alone.”

“I don’t think now is a good time. Later, though, I’m all yours.”

Will laughed. “Actually, that’s not the reason either.”

Confused, Sonny furrowed his brows.

“I – uh – well, you know I had it rough growing up as part of a broken family and as a kid I never really saw myself lasting very long in a real relationship. But then you came along and I started having all these thoughts and imagining things I never thought I wanted.”

Sonny remained silent, though his heart started beating a mile a minute as his mind raced to figure out where this speech was going.

“I love you so much, Sonny. I want to go to sleep every day with your head on my chest and wake up every morning with my arm around your waist. I want to be a shoulder to cry on or a punching bag when you need to yell at someone. I want a white picket fence and a dog and silly rocking chairs on our porch. I want everything with you, Sonny.”

Will paused, let go of Sonny’s waist, and slid to the floor on his right knee as he pulled a ring box out of his pocket.

Sonny gasped in a deep breath and covered his heart with his hand.

“Sonny Kiriakis, will you marry me?” He opened the ring box to reveal a simple silver engagement band.

“Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes,” Sonny babbled.

Will grinned, lifted the ring out of the box as he stood up, and slipped it onto Sonny’s finger.

The ring box dropped the floor as Sonny threw his arms around Will’s neck and he smashed their lips together in an earth-shattering kiss.


End file.
